The University and Concert Bands from the University of Iowa School of Music will present a joint concert under the direction of graduate student conductors at 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 26, in Clapp Recital Hall on the UI campus.

Their concert will be free and open to the public.

Two of the concert wind ensembles in the UI Band Department, the University and Concert Bands are open to UI students. This is the second shared program presented by the two groups during the spring semester.

Conducting duties for the Concert Band will be shared by two graduate students, Craig Aarhus and Chris Nicholas. Aarhus will conduct "Homage to Perotin" by Ron Nelson and "Scenes from the Louvre" by Norman Dello Joio.

Nicholas will conduct "Der Traum Des Oenghus" (The dream of Oenghus), parts I and II, by Rolf Rudin and "Vesuvius"by Frank Ticheli.

"Scenes from the Louvre" consists of music written for a 1964 NBC television series. After the composer won an Emmy for outstanding television score, he adapted the music as a five-movement suite for band, which was written for the Baldwin-Wallace College Wind Ensemble. Dello Joio conducted the premiere on March 13, 1966.

Rudin's "Dream of Oenghus" is a musical poem depicting an Irish legend in which Prince Oenghus has a nightly vision when he falls asleep: He sees a girl who plays a flute and falls in love with her. However, as she keeps disappearing she remains unattainable for him. Part I sets the stage and Part II commences the prince's journey through a dreamlike world of beauty, mystery and peril.

Under conductor Timothy Beckler, the University band will perform five pieces:

-- "Rejouissance" by James Curnow.

-- "A Yorkshire Overture" by Philip Sparke.

-- "Sleep" by Eric Whitacre.

-- "Courtly Airs and Dances" by Ron Nelson.

-- John Philip Sousa's "King Cotton" march.

British band composer Philip Sparke was commissioned to write "A Yorkshire Overture" in 1991 by the York music retailer Banks & Sons Ltd. It was written for a festival that featured school bands from throughout Yorkshire and was premiered by the North Yorkshire Schools' Concert Bands.

Composer Ron Nelson wrote "Courtly Airs and Dances" in 1995 for Cheryl Floyd and the Hill Country Middle School Band in Austin, Tex. Ron Nelson notes: "'Courtly Airs and Dances' is a suite of Renaissance dances which were characteristic of five European countries during the 1500s."

John Philip Sousa wrote the "King Cotton" march for the Cotton States Exposition of 1895, held in Atlanta. The appearance of the Sousa Band made the exposition a financial success, and as a sign of gratitude to Sousa "King Cotton" was named the official march of the exposition.

The School of Music is part of the Division of Performing Arts in the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.